Mom shot by fleeing crooks while pushing baby stroller in The Heights

A woman pushing her baby in a stroller was apparently shot Wednesday morning as suspected robbers sped away from a smoke shop in the Heights.

The robbery happened about 10:20 a.m. at the Paradise Smoke Shop in the 1307 block of Yale, according to Houston Police Department.

Police said the thieves drove away in a pickup and a witness followed them. During the chase, the suspects allegedly opened fire on the witness. It's unclear if the witness' car was hit. However, police said, a woman pushing a baby carriage along the sidewalk nearby was grazed in the leg.

The woman was not seriously injured and her child was not hurt. The witness also was not injured.

Houston Police Department spokesman Victor Senties said one 911 caller claimed to be a person who was following a gray Ford pickup with at least four men inside, who were believed to be involved in a robbery at gunpoint. At the time of the call, the truck was at E. 13th Street and Studewood Street, he said.

Jamie Reed was inside the smoke shop when the robbery happened. Reed, who owns a key-making store near next door to the smoke shop, said one of the suspects held him at gunpoint while another forced a worker to the back of the store. He said he recalled little more than staring at the barrel of a suspect's gun.

"It was scary," Reed said. "All I could see was the gun. All I could focus on was the gun."

Reed said the owners of the smoke shop have been in the small strip center for about two years. He said they are "good people."